JMU rained out
Damond Dukes squander seven-run lead, miss NCAA berth in May to close seasoni
By Brian Hansen, sports editor
Posted on August 28, 2006

The end of the Diamond Dukes’ baseball season was rained on. Literally.

With a 9-2 lead in the semifinals of the conference tournament JMU was cruising toward the finals when a rain delay that lasted over two hours hit. Madison was never able to regain the momentum as UNC-Wilmington scored eight runs after the rain delay to win 10-9.

“As their coach, I’ll remind them of that,” JMU coach Spanky McFarland said. “It was our goal to make the NCAA tournament, and we fell a little short. We’ll have to use that as motivation for next season.”

Despite the disappointing end, the Diamond Dukes enjoyed a successful campaign. They finished with a record of 38-21, including winning the conference regular season championship with a 22-8 record.

“We had a great year,” McFarland said. “We started out hot and after struggling due to injuries we buckled down and finished strong.”

Finish strong they did. After getting swept in a three-game series by Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y., the Dukes won nine of their last 10 games to earn the top seed in the Colonial Athletic Association conference tournament.

Madison had a number of key contributors this season, but the best season by far came from team MVP Kellen Kulbacki. The sophomore center fielder put up mind-blowing numbers this season on his way to winning a number of postseason awards.

“He had a wonderful year,” McFarland said. “It was a dream season for him.”

Among the many awards Kulbacki won include CAA Player of the Year and Division I Player of the Year for the state of Virginia. He was also named to Co-Player of the Year by the publication Collegiate Baseball while being named a finalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and the Brooks Wallace Award.

Kulbacki led all of Division I with 24 home runs and a .949 slugging percentage while finishing second with a .464 batting average. All three set JMU records while he tied for the school record for RBI’s with 75.

The Diamond Dukes also got contributions from several other players including senior second baseman Michael Cowgill. The 40th round draft choice of the Minnesota Twins was voted to the All-State team. Cowgill’s 23 home runs would have set the school record had it not been for Kulbacki’s 24. He finished second in Division I in home runs while winning the Jeff Garber Leadership award for the team.

“Cowgill had a great season hitting in front of Kulbacki,” McFarland said. “We weren’t a one man team and Cowgill was one of the key guys for us last season.”

Other members of the team to get drafted include senior left-hander Greg Nesbitt who went in the 29th round to the Seattle Mariners and sophomore Ryan Reid who was drafted in the seventh round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Reid finished the season with a 10-4 record and a 3.43 earned run average. He finished eighth in the nation with 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings. He has signed with the Tampa Bay and was assigned to the Hudson Valley Renegades of the New York-Penn League.
           
Along with those drafted the Diamond Dukes are going to have to replace seniors who played big roles including first baseman and All-State performer Nate Schill, who had the countries eighth best batting average at .419, catcher Matt Sluder, and outfielder Matt Bristow.
           
“We lost a lot of leadership and are going to need people to step up next year,” McFarland said. “We aren’t going to sneak up on anyone next season."